Thursday, March 14, 2013

Fifteenth Link Year Recap 3/12-3/14

Well guys it's been awhile since the last time I wrote up a blog post so this should be interesting. And by interesting I mean you'll probably fall asleep while reading this. Sorta like this video exemplifies...





There now that I've supplied you with the obligatory entertainment. Which, by the way, it took me about 20 minutes to actually figure how to embedded a video like that on this blog. It's harder than it sounds, don't judge. Alright so now onto the actual speaker from this week, sorta the point of this blog post.

We had Bret Christopher Jenson (he seemed to like his middle name) teach us this week, he was pretty good. I agreed with and enjoyed basically everything he had to say. He communicated well and knew how to relate to us. Although I think it was tough for some people to focus since it was the first week of class since January. That being said here are some of the things I learned or that stood out to me this week during Bret's teaching.

1) The first day, Tuesday, Bret emphasized being enamored with the Gospel. He pointed out how in verses like 1 Peter 1:3-12, Ephesians 1:3-19, Ephesians 3:20-21, and in other places the language seemed really poetic and just that the author was so enamored by Christ they would even repeat themselves over and over again. Emphasizing points with there awe.

2) He asked us a question on Tuesday that was really good to think about. What would be the price tag or the consequence of a community losing its fascination or enamoring of salvation? I don't remember Bret answering his question, I think his main point was for us to actually think about it. For me I can see it having devastating consequences. If you lose site of salvation (basically the Gospel) then you lose sight of grace. Without grace what do you have?  That's just a short thought but there you go.

3) Bret brought up many issues that needed to be remedied. One of which was "Elementary Gospel". Kinda what I was saying in the previous point, but not fully understanding the implications of the Gospel. It's stinking amazing if you think about it for long. God's wrath poured out on Christ for us! The cup of His wrath was drunk by Christ in our place! It's crazy to think about.

4) Another issue was called, "Gospel Displacement". Meaning that as Christians we tend to think of the Gospel as 'step 1' in our Christian journey. Like the ABC... but the rest of the letters are different steps. But that's not correct, the Gospel is A-Z. It's every single step. If a Christian loses sight of the Gospel they lose sight of the point behind the New Testament. Paul, Peter, James...etc. These were all mature Christians yet they kept constantly pointing to the Gospel throughout their letters.

5) Bret also asked why most modern day churches and community groups (or whatever you want to call them). My thoughts were that they don't truly understand what the Gospel is doing. It's a present tense thing, the Gospel is active and moving. Hebrews 4:12 makes that pretty clear. God still speaks and moves! Why would you forget that? Hold tight to that and believe it!

Well everybody, that's it for this week. Glad to get back into the swing of things. It was good to type up this one. Looking forward to next week's speaker and blog post. Until then, peace out.

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