Endtimes Indications - 12/28/07

Endtimes Indications - 12/28/07
Global warming brings busy year for UN disaster teams*


Jo Tuckman in Mexico City
Thursday December 27, 2007
Guardian Unlimited


The United Nations office that sends expert teams around the world to
help governments deal with natural disasters was busier than ever in
Latin America this year, a fact it at least partially blames on
climate
change.


The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA,
said in a statement that a record nine missions were dispatched to
the
region during 2007, among 14 sent around the globe, itself a higher
than
usual number.


Of the 14 global missions, 70% were in response to hurricanes and
floods, the OCHA statement said, calling this "possibly a glimpse of
the
shape of things to come given the reality of climate change."


In Latin America the proportion was even higher.


There were the rains in November that left most of the southern
Mexican
state of Tabasco under water for weeks, including large parts of the
city of Villahermosa.


In October, Tropical Storm Noel triggered flash floods in the
Dominican
Republic that killed dozens. In September, Honduras faced the
category
five Hurricane Felix, just as Jamaica and Belize had been battered by
the similarly strong Hurricane Dean the month before.


In South America, Uruguay suffered its worst flooding in 50 years and
hundreds of thousands of Bolivians were inundated and their crops
ruined
at the beginning of the year, warranting two UN missions alone.


The remaining UN disaster team sent to the region went to help with
the
relief effort following an 8.0-magnitude earthquake along the
Peruvian
coast.


There were also other significant disasters which did not receive UN
attention because the teams were not invited in by the local
government.
Hurricane Felix caused its greatest devastation in Nicaragua, but the
UN
mission was only sent to neighbouring Honduras.


"The number of disasters is increasing and it is connected to climate
change but we cannot at this juncture directly link any one
incident,"
OCHA spokesperson Stephanie Bunker told the Guardian. "More studies
will
have to be done before that is possible."


In 2006, the number of missions to Latin America was just two. In
2005
it was five.


Previously the highest number of missions to the region was the eight
sent in 1998 after Hurricanes Mitch devastated Central America and
Hurricane Georges ripped through the Caribbean.


Since its establishment in 1993, the OCHA has sent 167 disaster
assessment missions. The largest number were in response to the
tsunami
and earthquake that killed around 230,000 people in 12 Indian Ocean
nations on Boxing Day 2004. This year, aside from the missions to
Latin
America, the UN also sent teams to Madagascar, Pakistan, and Ghana in
response to floods, as well as to the Solomon Islands following an
earthquake and tsunami, and to Laos to help with disaster
preparedness
efforts.


12. Tools and Methods Part-1
God specialize in changing people. God looks for steady growth not
instant perfection. God is patient, and persistent. If we are
available, God can change us.
(John 3:3-8)
Jesus answered, "I am telling you the truth" no one can see the
Kingdom of God unless he is born again.
"How can a grown man be born again? Nicodemus asked. "He certainly
cannot enter his mother's womb and be born a second time!
"I am telling you the truth," replied Jesus, "that he is born
spiritually of the Spirit. Do not be surprised because I tell you
that you must all be born again. The wind blows wherever it wishes;
you hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from
or where it is going. It is like that will everyone who is born of
the Spirit."
How well does your present level of spiritual growth seem?

When we are growing in Earth's and God's programs we have various
levels, including a starting point. This starting point in both cases
is a birth (a coming into a new world). In the case of the physical
earth, we are physically born. In the case of the world of heaven we
are spiritually born by choosing to enter into the spiritual world,
God has provided for us.
On earth we leave the security of reliance within our physical mother
and join a family. As part of our way to heaven we leave earth's ways
by renouncing our reliance on our mother earth and ourselves and
accepting a new reliance and family (the religion and church we
selected). This earthly manifestation (the church) of God's family is
only provided us, to assist us in making that transition into our
future; just as our initial earthly family becomes a model for us to
establish our own earthly family.
As part of our early life we were babies (totally dependent on others
for everything). We then started our growth path (toddler, pre-
adolescent, adolescent, etc.). As part of our spiritual life we also
grow in relation to control over our ego, emotions, and other aspects
of our life.
There are additional steps in our earthly growth (first words or
steps, school, etc.). In our spiritual growth there are various
steps, (entry (birth), baptism, marriage within the church, etc.).
How would you train a child to have a personal relationship with God?
Each family on earth as well as each school has it own methods and
rules. Each religion and church has its own set of rules or methods.
The methods and rules provide guidance toward the ultimate goals of
growth.
As a earthly student you use various methods and media to help you
grow, therefore as heavenly students we must use various methods and
media to help us grow. Jesus reminds us that our speech and actions
reveal the true underlying beliefs, attitudes and motivations. We see
in the following quote that we must start with our heart.
(Luke 6:15)
"a good person brings good out of the treasure of good things in his
heart; a bad person brings bad out of his treasure of bad things. The
mouth speaks what the heart is full of."
Share what you consider to be your deepest spiritual need, and how you
plan on meeting this need?
(Proverbs 1:2-6)
"Here are proverbs that will help you recognize wisdom and good
advice, and understand saying with deep meaning. They can teach you
how to live intelligently and how to be honest, just, and fair. They
can make an inexperienced person clever and teach young men how to be
resourceful. These proverbs can even add to the knowledge of wise men
and give guidance to the educated, so that they can understand the
hidden meanings of proverbs and the problems that wise men raise."
Proverbs provide wisdom and guidance for living an obedient life.
Simple word and common sense give us guidelines for daily life. The
Proverbs contain many instructions to help steer readers away from
sin. Listen to this advice and grow in wisdom.
I've thought about what the Scriptures are teaching on wisdom and I've
come up with this: Wisdom is the God-given ability to see life with
rare objectivity and to handle life withrare stability.
When we operate in the sphere of the wisdom of God, when it is at work
in our mind and in our life, we look at life through lenses of
perception, and we respond to it in calm confidence. There's a
remarkable absence of fear. We are not seized with panic. We can
either lose our jobs or we can be promoted in our work, and neither
will derail us. Why? Because we see it with God-given objectivity.
And we handle it in His wisdom.
We can dip into an unexpected valley or we can soar to the pinnacle of
prosperity, and we can cope with both extremes. His wisdom provides
us the necessary objectivity and stability. That's the way life is
when it is lived in the palm of His hand. This is not some dreamland
fantasy. It is reality. It is the ability to live above the drag of
human opinion and horizontal perspective. It is what happens within
us when wisdom goes to work.
(From Living on the Ragged Edge by Charles Swindoll)
Today you may be bombarded by people giving advice - talk show hosts,
psychics, psychologists. Take more time to listen to God than to
television. At the end of the day, assess which words of wisdom you
applied (or should have).
Where do you need wisdom now?
Now let us move on from our heart to communication. Jesus models for
us the necessity and the benefits of prayer. Frequently in the
Gospels, Jesus is pictured as lifting up thanks to God, drawing
strength from God, and pulling away for a time in prayer. Clearly,
prayer was essential for Christ. Prayer is a valuable tool for us to
use in Christian living, but it needs to be used with a trusting
heart. It needs to be accompanied with commitment and by active
listening.
"If you're too proud (or too afraid) to admit you are hurting...
Don't be surprised if nobody seems to care" (Robert Schuler).
In this lesson we will learn more about prayer by discussing it. You
will explore your own feelings about prayer. You will explore what
intimacy with God can mean as we pray to him. What is prayer?
A. Communication.
MOMENTS There are moments in life when you miss someone so much that
you want to pick them from your dreams and hug them. Dream what you
want to dream; go where you want to go; be what you want to be,
because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you
want to do. May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough
trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, enough
hope to make you happy. Always put yourself in others' shoes. If you
feel that it hurts you, it probably hurts the other person, too. The
happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they
just make the most of everything that comes along their way. Happiness
lives for those who cry, those who hurt, those who have searched, and
those who tried, for only they can appreciate the importance of people
who have touched their lives. Love begins with a smile, grows with a
kiss and ends with a tear. The brightest future will always be based
on a forgiven past, you can't go on well in life until you let go of
your past failures and heartaches. When you were born, you were crying
and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you
die, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is
crying......

Does God "talk" to you now and how?
One way of coming alive to the presence of Good in a living
relationship is through prayer. Many people who do not experience
God's presence in their lives express the feeling of being lost in the
universe. Those who lack purpose and meaning feel the "Lostness" that
William Adam Brown described in "The Life of Prayer in a world of
Science."
"In the last analysis it comes to this: either we are alone in the
universe, facing its unsolved mysteries and its appalling tragedies
with only the helpless as we are or there is someone who hears us when
we speak and answers when we call."
Brown concluded:
"The man who has learned to pray is no longer alone in the universe.
He is living in his 'father's house'."
What do you think the apostle Paul meant when he said to "pray
continually" or "pray all the time?"
But just as a coach, earthly Father or Best Friend, God may not always
be able to help you with your difficulties directly. He will be there
to provide support to you mentally and emotionally. Jesus taught that
the essence of prayer is private communication. How does he provide
this support:
(Matthew 6:6)
"But when you pray, go to your room, close the door, and pray to you
Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what you do in
private, will reward you."
What bad habits have you picked up in prayer and what do you need to
do about it?
One of the key factors in any relationship between two intelligent
beings; is communication. As a infant you expressed your wishes
through your verbal expression of crying.
We express ourselves in God our Father in a similar way. We cry to
him by simply stating our needs and help desired for difficult
situations.
Just as when we grow in our earthly life; we learn that verbal
communication can be used for more than just stating our needs. It
can be used for conversation, for expressing our feelings, and many
other forms of inter-relational communications.
As we grow in God's family we develop our communication with him. But
since this relationship is spiritual, we must learn to communicate in
a spiritual way. This way requires us to speak with our mind and
emotions. Verbal communication only serves a purpose if it is a joint
activity with other humans, or when it helps focus our mental
thoughts. It does not replace a mental and emotional communication.
We can never pray too much if our prayers are honest and sincere.
Before you start to pray, make sure you mean what you say.
(Matthew 6:8)
"Do not be like them. Your Father already knows what you need before
you ask him."
As Children of our Father in Heaven we should not make our discussions
with him, ones that concentrate on petitions for our own
satisfaction. We should pray that God's will might be done, and his
rule established as fully on earth as it is in the world that is
unseen. All a child needs for himself, is to be allowed to take part
in the purpose he has been created for and so he asks only for his
daily needs to be supplied, his failures to be forgiven, and to be
helped to do his best and avoid evil (Matt. 6:1-18).
An initial response to this may be that this is only a one sided
communication; from you to God. Just as we needed to learn to listen
to verbal communication and to understand it. We must do the same for
spiritual communication.
We learn that it is not in storm or fire that God speaks but in the
silence and stillness of a receptive heart (1 Kings 19:11-12).
This communication takes many forms. But they all start with a
complete trust, and commitment to live a life as a Child of God. As a
result of this attitude, you will find a peaceful mental and emotional
state. Within this state God will communicate to you through your
thoughts being guided, along with your emotions. You will find your
whole life being guided.
How am I going to get to know God?
Next time you go through a difficult time try to appreciate the
experience and grow from it, learning what God wants to teach you.
(Isaiah 30:19-21)
"The Lord is compassionate, and when you cry to him for help, he will
answer you.
"The Lord will make you go through hard times but he himself will be
there to teach you, and you will not have to search for him anymore.
"If you wander off the road to the right or the left, you will here
his voice behind you saying: 'Here is the road. Follow it.'"
It is extremely unlikely that God will ever speak to you directly.
But once you are at peace within yourself; you will find God
responding to you, in a guidance way.
Just as you will find yourself communicating with your best friends on
earth; you will be communicating with your Father in Heaven.
But with this communication you will find that he is always there. He
is always listening.
This communication should reflect our trust, repentance for improper
relational actions (sins), respect and our love. We should work at
establishing this link. Just as you may greet a mate/spouse with a
"Good Morning", "I love you", and other communication we should talk
to our God through our mind and emotions. We should establish a
regular time where we state our relationship of Love, Trust, Glory,
etc. Just as we may talk over breakfast or dinner with other members
of our earthly family, we should talk to our coaches.
(Isaiah 50:4-6)
"The Sovereign Lord has taught me what to say, so that I can
strengthen the weary. Every morning he makes me eager to hear what he
is going to teach me. The Lord has given me understanding, and I have
not rebelled or turned away from him."
What would it mean for you to start your day by listening to God? How
might you do so?
When we praise him we remind ourselves of what is fundamentally
important. When we thank him we humbly remember our utter dependence
on his care. When we pray for people we are encouraged to then go out
and do something to help them. Prayer is a self-help exercise.
The spiritual law of praying iis that we must seek and be willing to
accept the will of God - whatever it may be for us. Our prayer must
not be efforts to bend God to our will or desires - but to yield
ourselves to Him - whatever they may be.
It is this matter of the surrender of our wills to God's will that is
hard for us.
It is this unknown factor - sometimes not knowing what is God's will
in a particular case - that makes praying dangerous.
Real praying - that is, talking with God - and maintaining
communications with Him as being in charge of your life and activities
- demands real commitment.
It's easy to tell people when to pray. It's often very difficult to
figure out in a living situation when is the right time. Have you
ever been confronted with the decision to "pray or not to pray?" How
did it work out? What was good/not so good about it? How could it
have improved? What will you watch for in future situations?
Many people find it difficult to pray privately. What do you think
some reasons are for that?
Just as when we grow in our earthly life; we learn that verbal
communication can be used for more than just stating our needs. It
can be used for conversation, for expressing our feelings, and many
other forms of inter-relational communications.
One of the tools God provides us to assist us in this action, is the
ability to pray to him (talk to Him). This prayer should be directed
to committing ourselves to his "will being done" and asking him for
the grace or ability to trust him and to cope with the acting out of
his will. We should make this a natural part of our day as we go
through with it. It should occur as if you were working side by side
with your best friend, because you are. Your conversation with him
should take place within your heart and mind as things occur within
your day, And another factor is, if you start your day with
committing yourself to his control, you will be living a prayer.
What is prayer? It is talking to God. It is telling him of our
feelings, our needs, our wants, our hopes. Prayer is when we open our
lives to God. When we trust God, open our lives to his work and bring
our cares to him, we obey Christ's command to pray in faith.
God knows our needs. He knows our helplessness. He knows that there
is no area of our lives in which we are truly in control of our
destinies. Recognizing our own helplessness and dependency upon God,
we are drawn to prayer. In short, God invites us to open every aspect
of our lives to his creative power.
Prayer is the most direct expression of our relationship with God. It
is always an intimate dialog. As we open ourselves to God in prayer,
he gives himself to us. God comforts our anxieties and teaches us how
to live. Prayer can be the most rewarding joy of our Christian
lives. Prayer is not an option, God has commanded us to pray (Phil.
4:6-7).
Prayer forces us to face and acknowledge our helplessness. We have to
recognize our need in order to be healed. Moreover, prayer invites
God to involve himself in our lives. He wants to help us to grow to
be more like him, yet he waits for our invitation.
How might praying with another person bring you closer to each other?
What's special about that? Have you ever had such experiences with
others?
What do you think about expressing such feelings as anger, sadness,
bitterness and fear quite strongly to God in Prayer?
(Proverbs 1:22-33)
"Foolish people! How long do you want to be foolish? How long will
you enjoy making fun of knowledge? Will you never learn? Listen when
I reprimand you; I will give you good advice and share my knowledge
with you. I have been calling you, inviting you to come, but you
would not listen. You paid no attention to me. You have ignored all
my advice and have not been willing to let me correct you. So when
you get into trouble. I will laugh at you. I will make fun of you
when terror strikes - when it comes on you like a storm, bringing
fierce winds of trouble, and you are in pain and misery. Then you
will call for wisdom, but I will not answer. You may look for me
everywhere, but you will not find me. You have never had any use for
knowledge and have always refused to obey the Lord. You have never
wanted my advice or paid any attention when I corrected you. So then
you will get what you deserve, and your own actions will make you
sick. Inexperienced people die because they reject wisdom. Stupid
people are destroyed by their own lack of concern. But whoever
listens to me will have security. I will be safe, with no reason to
be afraid.
What will you do to "get wise?"
"Yet prayer... to do our duty, to glorify God, to do good works, to
live a good life, to die in the fear and favor of God. These things
God delights to give, and commands that we shall ask and we may with
confidence expect to be answered graciously... Our prayers must be
fervent, intense, earnest, and importunate" (Jeremy Taylor - The Rule
and Exercises of Holy Living).
Do you have a favorite source of prayers or at least one prayer with
which you are acquainted? What makes those prayers special to you?
Share the pros and cons, for you in regard to praying alone?
"Prayer is our humble answer to the inconceivable surprise of
living... Prayer is our attachment to the utmost. Without God in
sight, we are like the scattered rungs of a broken ladder. To pray is
to become a ladder on which thoughts mount to God to join the movement
toward Him which surges unnoticed throughout the entire universe" (A.
J. herchel, Quest for God-1954).
Which of us has not tried to bargain with God? We hope, as Abraham
did, not to make God impatient nor angry, *** to somehow get our way
nevertheless.
The result of our prayers depend upon what God we believe in. If we
believe in a wholesale God who can deliver material goods or a
business God who ensures raises and promotions, our prayers will
disappoint us.
If, on the other hand, we believe in the God who Jesus came to reveal,
our prayer will be a simple act of trust that God will be faithful to
us, and we shall never be let down.
"Here, I believe, is the key to understanding, what is most personal
in prayer. We do not pray to tell God what he does not know, nor to
remind him of things he has forgotten. He already cares for the
things we pray about; his attention to them has never flagged from the
beginning, and his understanding is unfathomable. He has simply been
waiting for us to care about them with him. When we pray, we stand by
God and look with them with him. When we pray, we stand by God and
look with him toward those people and problems. When we lift our eyes
from them toward him, we do so with loving praise, just as we look
toward our oldest and dearest friends and tell them how we care for
them, though they already know it. We confess to God what we are and
what we have done. We express our faith in him. We thank him for
what he is and what he has done for us. None of this is news to our
heavenly Father. We speak to him as we speak to our most intimate
friends - so that we can commune together in love" (Knowing the Face
of God-Tim Stafford)..
Share a time you can remember when you felt close to God. If this
experience includes prayer, share how prayer enhanced the experience.
If it did not include prayer, share any possible ways in which the
experience may have resembled prayer.
It is only by sharing painful moments honestly with God that people
are able to think out how, the situation and how God relates.
Neither God nor others are concerned with eloquent words only that
genuine communication takes place. Paul wrote: "For we do not know
how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with
sighs too deep for words" (Rom. 8:26). Many times the best prayer is
the one most difficult to express, coming from the heart and
reflecting genuine concern. As John Bunyon said, "In prayer it is
better to have a heart without words than words without a heart."
B. Getting to Know Each Other
How is the Christian church like a family? How is it different?
Another important factor in any relationship, is getting to know each
other. We do it in many ways. One of the ways is to exchange
information (i.e. verbally, picture albums, letters, etc.).
Look at the stars. The most universally awesome experience that
mankind knows is to stand alone on a clear night and look at the
stars. Nothing gives us a greater sense of one's own littleness and
insignificance. Our minds reel; our imaginations cannot grasp it, we
are left mentally dizzy. It is God who created them, and we can know
him through, his creation.
All His works of creation display His Plan for us, and until we see it
in them we just are not seeing them as they were meant to be seen.
We also cannot understand their place in the plan of God unless we
know what end they serve. We may go wrong here if we think that
because God is love and/or that we are gods; the universe and life was
created for our control and joy.
(Luke 11:28)
But Jesus answered, "Rather, how happy are those who hear the word of
God and obey it!"
Well God has arranged for authors, inspired by him, to put forth books
that provide a link of communication. We have used one of them
heavily within this course, the Bible. It is important that we spend
time on a regular basis, to acquire this knowledge of our Father.
God speaks to us through his Word. Christians have always recognized
that regular feeding on and responding to the Word nourishes Christian
growth. Through the Bible we learn how to become more Christ-like.
The Bible is the Christian's most important tool for living a moral
life which will be pleasing to God. Proper interpretation is worth
little unless it is accompanied by obedience. And in order to obey,
we must know Him. By examining Jesus' actions principles, and
attitudes, we can understand God more clearly.
(Luke 10:22)
"My Father has given me all things. No one knows who the Son is
except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son
and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."
How does a sense of being blessed by knowing Jesus influence your
response to God?
We have to open up every corner of our hearts and minds to Him. We
dare not say one thing with our lips and mean another thing in our
hearts.
Being really honest with God does not come easily to any one of us.
When God answers prayer, we have to follow His guidance or take the
consequences.
God expects us never to question that He is a God of love... who loves
us each one individually.
There are other books, printed matter, visual aids, audio materials
and many other means and methods.
(Luke 6:46-48)
"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and yet don't do what I tell you?
Anyone who comes to me and listens to my words and obeys them - I will
show you what he is like. He is like a man who, in building his
house, dug deep and laid the foundation on rock. The river flooded
over and hit that house but could not shake it, because it was well
built."
During the last "storm" to hit your life, what did you learn about
your life's "foundation?"
We see here where our base of the training program is "Listens to my
words and obey them." We also need to establish a relationship with
our fellow spiritual family in heaven (i.e. Christ, etc.) and our
earth based family (i.e. the Church). Juse as earthly fathers are
pleased when their earthly children get along, our heavenly father is
pleased when their earthly children get along, our heavenly father is
pleased when his children got along. We may share Love, Trust,
thoughts, needs anything that is important to us.
Another example is the sharing of knowledge of our God verbally with
each other. This can be done by listening to our brothers and
sisters, who have made a special effort to learn about our heavenly
Father and other family members. They have studied in order to share
with us. But an equally important aspect of this sharing is listening
to other brother and sisters and how our Father is acting and relating
to them in their life. This is one of the most important aspects of
the earthly manifestations of his heavenly family, the church.
The church allows us to share with other members of his family our,
doubts, fears, needs, feelings, etc. Just as in a earthly family,
their are areas that we share with our parents, and other areas that
we share with our brothers, sisters and friends, at meals, one on one
exchanges, and group discussions.
How do you wish your relationship with God could be better?
C. Doing Things for each Other
One means of sharing Love is doing things for each other. God is
constantly doing things for us (i.e. life, other humans, food, etc.).
We do things for other family members. This is the way we can return
what God is doing for us. Just as a earthly father receives great
pleasure from family members helping each other, God receives
pleasure.
Just as earthly family members are not expected to dedicate their life
to doing things for others, but are expected to help each other when
the need is present, they are available, and are capable of helping.
An example would be when a older child in a family is home from
school, is physically capable; baby-sits for a younger child when
needed. We must help those who God has made their need known to us,
and provides us the means to help.
The term body of Christ describes people united by Jesus Christ into a
real community. This "family-ness" of Christianity entails both
benefits and responsibilities. We are called to discover what in-
depth caring is all about.
What am I going to do for others?
We caring Christians follow the example of our Lord Jesus. He loved.
He grieved. He became angry. He nurtured. All of these are elements
of deep relationships. Jesus did not mince words, but went straight
to the heart - getting people to think about themselves, their faith,
and their relationship to him and his kingdom.
The idea of family has many implications for us as we go about caring
for and relating to others. The Christian community can positively
affect both the care-give and the one receiving care.
Ultimately the right to care flows from our responsibility as family
members. It is God who created the Christian family. He desires you
and me to reach into the lives of our fellow family members with His
love.
Care from a fellow Christian is like care from a member of your
family. Because of this closeness, trust is expected. A degree of
rapport is already present through common faith in Jesus Christ.
At times it might be beneficial for you, the caregiver, to verbalize
that you and the one receiving care are members of the same family,
the body of Christ. Both of you will experience some closeness or
family togetherness through your Christian family membership, but the
caregiver still should enter the relationship with a healthy emotional
distance. In this sense, Christians frequently are able to combine
the best of both worlds, drawing on the advantages of mutual
membership in the Christian family, and a Christian attitude of
servant-hood.
We hunger and thirst, and we are fed. Ideally, we hunger to be
helpful, and thirst to be of service, and we care for one another. We
should not be happy with just receiving. We should not be filled with
a false pride that hasn't learned how to say thank you, but we should
have an honest pride that knows we are never so fluid, so alive, as
when we are as transparent as clear water, our egos invisible with
God's care flowing through us without a thought of ourselves.
When we pray we want to forget ourselves and the resentments and
jealousies that draw attention to ourselves. We want to be of
service.
Jesus was the servant and his service was that of easing the pain of
the afflicted in his day, unclogging the spirit and dislodging the
obstacles that stood in the way of salvation. He delivered people
from the burden of themselves to free them to deliver others.
Christ created a community in our midst; he wants us to appreciate
what this means. We act on our sense of community when we build deep,
loving relationships with other Christians. In a family with a loving
Father, a giving Brother and a helpful mate (Spirit), can we do
otherwise?
How will I change my relationship to my families?
Another example is the sharing of knowledge of our God verbally with
each other. This can be done by listening to our brothers and
sisters, who have made a special effort to learn about our heavenly
Father and other family members. They have studied, in order to share
with us. But an equally important aspect of this sharing is listening
to other brother and sisters and how our Father is acting and relating
to them in their life. This is one of the most important aspects of
the earthly manifestations of his heavenly family, the church.
The church allows us to share with other members of his family our,
doubts, fears, needs, feelings, etc. Just as in a earthly family,
their are areas that we share with our parents, and other areas that
we share with our brothers, sisters and friends, at meals, one on one
exchanges, and group discussions.
One means of sharing love is doing things for each other. God is
constantly doing things for us (i.e. life, other humans, food, etc.).
We do things for other family members. This is the way we can return
what God is doing for us. Just as a earthly father receives great
pleasure from family members helping each other, God receives
pleasure.
Just as earthly family members are not expected to dedicate their life
to doing things for others, but are expected to help each other when
the need is present, they are available, and are capable of helping.
An example would be when a older child in a family is home from
school, is physically capable; baby-sits for a younger child when
needed. We must help those who God has made their need know to us,
and provides us the means to help.
D. The Exchange model
God has provided us with a model of how our relationship with Him and
His heaven based Family should function. That is the Earthly Family,
both the one that we grew up in as a earthly child and the one that we
develop to raise other earthly children.
Both of these gives us the opportunity to learn, experience,
experiment and as a result determine the proper relationship between
us and our God. And in exchange what we learn about our relation to
God we can put into practice within our earth based families.
This interchange between the three families gives us a valuable
spiritual growth experience. There are other families that this
Exchange works also. There is the Church Family, and the Human
Family.
But all of these exchanges should be looked at in pair situations.
If it is wrong on one side of the exchange it must be wrong on the
other side. The other side of the coin also holds true.
Just as in earthly schools we perform exercises, experiments, and
other learning experiences, we do the same on the path of our
spiritual growth.
Christian Models
Mahatma Ghandi
Ministries, should have symbol which sets themselves apart from other
ministries. mahatma Ghandi used symbols for powerful effect to
mobilize followers in their quest to liberate India from British
domination. Ghandi adopted the spinning wheel as a symbol of how
people in India could pull themselves out of dire poverty. By making
homespun products on their spinning wheels, the Indian people could
become more economically self-sufficient, and they could boycott
British-made products at the same time. Ghandi chose to use salt as a
symbol of his people's desire for freedom in their own country. The
British had a monopoly on salt in India and made it illegal for
Indians to produce it for themselves. In response, Ghandi led the
"salt march" beginning March 12, 1930. Hundreds of people marched
with him to the sea where he symbolically picked up some tried salt on
the beach. Salt became an electrifying symbol of freedom to the
people of India.
Student Prayer
Thank you, Lord, that I am one of your prized possessions. Keep me
ever in your care, and cover me with your divine love and affection.
I praise you for your love and I will try to be a fond remembrance in
your heart. Amen.
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