Friday, December 4, 2009
My Thoughts on the Last Class...
It was really cool to see the documentary on the Azusa Street Revivals. It really encouraged me to see how a small group of people who made time to pray, read and seek God had such a move of the Spirit and revival like in the book of Acts. It made me wonder about our society today and how busy we are. We just don’t have the time like William Seymour had back then. He didn’t have a job and just stayed home reading and praying for weeks till he touched God. I wonder if there really was an economic crash and we couldn’t work if we would then have revival. If we were forced to not be so busy then we will have the time to pray and read to the point of bringing heaven down in a revival.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Thoughts on the last class...
The Professor discussed about the Anabaptists and how they were not accepted in the society to the point of prosecution for their bold testament. The Professor called it a “death warrant.” They believed that adults should be baptized and not children because one needs to have faith first in order to be baptized. Because of this they were often killed by being drowned when they were caught. Paying with their life by their testimony, so suffering because of the cross was a big part of their theology. They were persecuted by both Catholics and Protestants. Whenever anything is new or different from the norm the leaders of the church seem to try to put a stop to it. It is interesting how there is always a small group who will step away from the traditions and seek to know more at any cost even the cost of their very life.
Monday, November 30, 2009
My Thoughts on the Last Class...
The Reformation of the church that Calvin led beleived that the place for the administration sacraments were to be held high but did not believe in apostolic succession like the Catholics. There was no separation of Church and State and Calvin believed the entire city was to be the realm of the church. I found it interesting that the church was in control of who could and could not take communion ( because of sin) , it was not a personal decision and they controlled this. This reminds me of an article I read online about a leader in today’s Political realm who was told by his church that he could not take communion because of his stand on abortion. The political leader says he is Catholic but the church will not serve him communion because they believe strongly against communion. This strong stand on communion is still held today within the Catholic Church but not so much in Evangelical and Protestant settings.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Thoughts on the last class...Nov 18 class
I admire Martin Luther for standing up against the Catholic Church in his day and starting the Protestant Reformation. With the church being so powerful it took a lot of guts and stamina to do what he did and to risk losing his credentials among other things. Nailing his ninety five theses to the church door of the castle church in Wittenberg he created such uproar that he was excommunicated by Pope Leo IX and declared an outlaw at the Diet of Worms. He cared more about standing up for the truth of what he saw in the Bible and feared God more than the powerful church. His break from Rome created the Lutheran Church and he was and will forever be known as an amazing man and powerful leader. Its no surprise that Dr. Martin Luther King was named after him and had a similar fire of spreading the truth without fear.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
My Thoughts on the Last Class...
What stood out to me the most during the lecture was the 16th century, Robert de Nobili, a Catholic missionary, who incorporated the Hindu religion with Christianity. He mixed some Hindu practices with his Christianity while in India and reached the high cast in that society. He found the cultural practices of Hinduism a commonality and an avenue to reach those in India with the Gospel.This was not accepted my the Catholic Church and they booted him out. I think it is important to find what we have in common first when reaching others and incorporating ones culture and some forms of their religion is not necessarily wrong or a salvation issue.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Thoughts on the last class...
In the last class we had a Guest Speaker, Bishop Cray, speak about the church in England and the main line denomination in the UK. I thought it was very cool that they have congregations that focus on certain groups such as under five year olds/preschool congregation, youth congregations and special interests churches like surfing. He brought up the point that one can keep their culture and interests and create a congregation around it. In the Surfer Café the Surfers came right off the beach and into the café with their Surfer wear on and they had a gathering of worship and study as a church. I like how this shows one can come to God as they are and it is fine. God is not legalistic but many churches are. I’ve witnessed guests coming into a church with unacceptable clothing and being asked to leave. Legalism and exclusivism is not the nature of Jesus but only the nature of certain people.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
My Thoughts on the Last Class...
November 11, 2009
The Professor brought up the point of "place and space." In most cultures—sharing place the physical place and space,the social engagement, was the same. We as a culture have been stretching in space over time through newspapers, phones, etc –we are now sharing social engagements by connecting with someone who we are not sharing ‘place’ with. We are sharing "space" with someone across the world ie. email , internet, phone, etc and not necessarily sharing "place" with them. We are also separated by time as well as space…and now time is almost meaningless…we can connect in seconds. We need to understand how our culture is changing and adjust to it. Instead of seeing "places" reached with the gospel maybe we need to see our NETWORKS or "spaces" reached with the gospel. Such as in a night club, cafe, or a group of friends we hang out…etc We need to have a radical change in thinking…
The Professor brought up the point of "place and space." In most cultures—sharing place the physical place and space,the social engagement, was the same. We as a culture have been stretching in space over time through newspapers, phones, etc –we are now sharing social engagements by connecting with someone who we are not sharing ‘place’ with. We are sharing "space" with someone across the world ie. email , internet, phone, etc and not necessarily sharing "place" with them. We are also separated by time as well as space…and now time is almost meaningless…we can connect in seconds. We need to understand how our culture is changing and adjust to it. Instead of seeing "places" reached with the gospel maybe we need to see our NETWORKS or "spaces" reached with the gospel. Such as in a night club, cafe, or a group of friends we hang out…etc We need to have a radical change in thinking…
Sunday, November 8, 2009
November 9, 2009
I think most spiritual people are looking for an experience and belief system that they can follow daily. I like the Professor’s point about how some Christians are going back into Orthodox beliefs to experience a daily spiritual experience that lasts beyond a one day or two day a week church experience. Similar to the New Age movement where it is a daily spiritual experience some Christians want a daily spiritual life. I think Peter Gillquist , leader from Campus Crusade for Christ, brought this to the forefront when he and the twenty churches he planted became Orthodox. The church of the book of Acts had a spiritual walk that was a lifestyle, a daily way of living. Their Christian walk was not just a ritual or religious practice of attending church because it was the thing to do. I think this has a lot to do with many people leaving religion and getting more involved in the New Age movement. Some people today are seeking something that is real that will change their life and they are over institutionalized religion.
I think most spiritual people are looking for an experience and belief system that they can follow daily. I like the Professor’s point about how some Christians are going back into Orthodox beliefs to experience a daily spiritual experience that lasts beyond a one day or two day a week church experience. Similar to the New Age movement where it is a daily spiritual experience some Christians want a daily spiritual life. I think Peter Gillquist , leader from Campus Crusade for Christ, brought this to the forefront when he and the twenty churches he planted became Orthodox. The church of the book of Acts had a spiritual walk that was a lifestyle, a daily way of living. Their Christian walk was not just a ritual or religious practice of attending church because it was the thing to do. I think this has a lot to do with many people leaving religion and getting more involved in the New Age movement. Some people today are seeking something that is real that will change their life and they are over institutionalized religion.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
My Thoughts on the Last Class...
November 4, 2009
We could see how the mixing culture with religion around the world happens, especially in Turkey where going to the musk is a part of their social life and community. The Missionaries will have to be culturally sensitive to these issues and not legalistic in order to get their message across and to be accepted. It is different here in the west in that we aren’t so tied to our religious buildings that we could not call ourselves Americans if we didn’t attend the synagogue or church building. However, in some things it is similar, like certain holidays we celebrate that are tied to Christianity but have a pagan twist on them. With the pagan twist it makes it more culturally accepted in all religions such as Easter and Christmas. Easter can be celebrated as the resurrection of Jesus or that can be left out to only celebrate the Easter Bunny and go on Easter egg hunts all originating from the old pagan practice of worshiping the god of fertility
We could see how the mixing culture with religion around the world happens, especially in Turkey where going to the musk is a part of their social life and community. The Missionaries will have to be culturally sensitive to these issues and not legalistic in order to get their message across and to be accepted. It is different here in the west in that we aren’t so tied to our religious buildings that we could not call ourselves Americans if we didn’t attend the synagogue or church building. However, in some things it is similar, like certain holidays we celebrate that are tied to Christianity but have a pagan twist on them. With the pagan twist it makes it more culturally accepted in all religions such as Easter and Christmas. Easter can be celebrated as the resurrection of Jesus or that can be left out to only celebrate the Easter Bunny and go on Easter egg hunts all originating from the old pagan practice of worshiping the god of fertility
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Thoughts on the last class...
November 2, 2009
We started the class off with the Jesus Prayer, which I thought was very effective. I have continued to think about it all week and especially the ‘have mercy on me’ part of the prayer during this Halloween weekend ;-)…I found the lecture interesting as always. The church was not separated from the Government and this created a lot of control. By them mixing religion with politics and the Priest with Monarchy created ‘state religions.’ Knowing this history I can understand why in American Thomas Jefferson pushed the separation of Church and State. This also brings up the point about the Visible vs the Invisible Church. People began to attend church as something to do in the culture and not because they were actually followers of Jesus. It became more of a tradition or ritual because they thought they had to do it. So if someone attended church that did not necessarily mean that they were a follower of Jesus or apart of the real and visible church, but rather the invisible.
We started the class off with the Jesus Prayer, which I thought was very effective. I have continued to think about it all week and especially the ‘have mercy on me’ part of the prayer during this Halloween weekend ;-)…I found the lecture interesting as always. The church was not separated from the Government and this created a lot of control. By them mixing religion with politics and the Priest with Monarchy created ‘state religions.’ Knowing this history I can understand why in American Thomas Jefferson pushed the separation of Church and State. This also brings up the point about the Visible vs the Invisible Church. People began to attend church as something to do in the culture and not because they were actually followers of Jesus. It became more of a tradition or ritual because they thought they had to do it. So if someone attended church that did not necessarily mean that they were a follower of Jesus or apart of the real and visible church, but rather the invisible.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Thoughts on the last class...
Mary Grace Serreno
October 28, 2009
I found it interesting how the church begins to become more and more structured like the Roman Empire with hierarchies and distinguished offices. There is a strong respect for the authority of the Bishop and they practice the laying on of hands whenever they appoint a new one. Bishops start appointing Bishops and the office and responsibilities increase. The Bishop had the responsibility to take care of the needy in the community, the poor and the widows. Initially they were appointed over their household so they had to have a good standing in the community both with respect and financially in order to become that leader. Also as the church begins to look more like the Roman Empire in structure women are seen less and less in leadership positions; however, we can still find them as Prophets and being honored as martyrs. House churches can still be found in the rural areas, but no longer in the urban areas with the intensity of the growth of the church.
October 28, 2009
I found it interesting how the church begins to become more and more structured like the Roman Empire with hierarchies and distinguished offices. There is a strong respect for the authority of the Bishop and they practice the laying on of hands whenever they appoint a new one. Bishops start appointing Bishops and the office and responsibilities increase. The Bishop had the responsibility to take care of the needy in the community, the poor and the widows. Initially they were appointed over their household so they had to have a good standing in the community both with respect and financially in order to become that leader. Also as the church begins to look more like the Roman Empire in structure women are seen less and less in leadership positions; however, we can still find them as Prophets and being honored as martyrs. House churches can still be found in the rural areas, but no longer in the urban areas with the intensity of the growth of the church.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Class Participation Assignment - October 26, 2009
In the class movie we learned how some things originated and saw visuals on stories we have only read about. A new thing I learned was the Roman perspective of the image of a man carrying a sheep on his shoulders. The Roman’s believed it meant compassion toward human life, different then how the church views that same image today. Also very interesting was the vision of Constantine that totally changed the empire towards Christianity. He believed in the sun god and one day had a vision of a cross on the sun with words under it saying “by this conquer.” And so he did and won the battle making Christianity the religion of the Roman Empire.
In the class movie we learned how some things originated and saw visuals on stories we have only read about. A new thing I learned was the Roman perspective of the image of a man carrying a sheep on his shoulders. The Roman’s believed it meant compassion toward human life, different then how the church views that same image today. Also very interesting was the vision of Constantine that totally changed the empire towards Christianity. He believed in the sun god and one day had a vision of a cross on the sun with words under it saying “by this conquer.” And so he did and won the battle making Christianity the religion of the Roman Empire.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Mary Grace Serreno Class Participation Assignment - October 21, 2009
In the first century of the church I found it interesting how the role of the Bishop began to morph as the Church was morphing. The Bishop-Elder-Deacon in the Jewish culture was considered a Mentor in the faith, but began to get more complex with the Greek structural view. Moreover, the role of the Bishop was more of a “guardian of the faith” the Professor explained and later became more involved with the hierarchy of the church with added responsibility. The church began to reflect more and more the culture surrounding it and adapted to those societies i.e. The Church in Rome was more contemporary with women holding positions as Leaders of the household, society and in ministry where on the other hand in Corinth they were kept uneducated and told not to speak in the church.
In the first century of the church I found it interesting how the role of the Bishop began to morph as the Church was morphing. The Bishop-Elder-Deacon in the Jewish culture was considered a Mentor in the faith, but began to get more complex with the Greek structural view. Moreover, the role of the Bishop was more of a “guardian of the faith” the Professor explained and later became more involved with the hierarchy of the church with added responsibility. The church began to reflect more and more the culture surrounding it and adapted to those societies i.e. The Church in Rome was more contemporary with women holding positions as Leaders of the household, society and in ministry where on the other hand in Corinth they were kept uneducated and told not to speak in the church.
Monday, October 19, 2009
My Thoughts on the Last Class...
Mary Grace Serreno MC500
Class Participation Assignment - October 19, 2009
My thoughts on the last class session begins with the scripture reading and reflection of Acts 2:42-47. This passage really gives us a glimpse of the heart of the first church and how unselfish and giving they were by selling what they had so everyone's needs were met. Earth was clearly not their home. I also found it interesting to learn about the house churches and how the leader of the house had such a significant and powerful influence on not only their house but the community surrounding it. The book of Acts shows us the Acts of the first church and how the Holy Spirit falls on all who seek him and does not discriminate based on race or gender. We can also see how things were a bit free and organic in the beginning with Church leadership and became more and more formalized as time went on.
Class Participation Assignment - October 19, 2009
My thoughts on the last class session begins with the scripture reading and reflection of Acts 2:42-47. This passage really gives us a glimpse of the heart of the first church and how unselfish and giving they were by selling what they had so everyone's needs were met. Earth was clearly not their home. I also found it interesting to learn about the house churches and how the leader of the house had such a significant and powerful influence on not only their house but the community surrounding it. The book of Acts shows us the Acts of the first church and how the Holy Spirit falls on all who seek him and does not discriminate based on race or gender. We can also see how things were a bit free and organic in the beginning with Church leadership and became more and more formalized as time went on.
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