Understanding Theology

Understanding Theology-

This class has given me opportunities to understand concepts like;

• The Cross-(carrying an actual cross for a week),
• Substitutionary atonement-(Carrying a rose or a rock in the spirit of forgiveness),
• Incarnation-(emptying oneself by sacrificial giving)

My favorite assignment was; Ecclesiology-We visited other churches and we shared about our experience. This was a difficult experience for me, but also one that I learned a lot by doing the assignment. I don't need to question everything done in other churches, but I would like to understand the purpose of certain worship rituals or experiences. There was a reverence for the Father in the service I attended at that was great. It focused more Liturgical than I am used to and because of that experience I was reminded of how blessed I am to have the choice to worship where I choose. This is a gift to be able to do freely.

Overall, I learned a lot about God, myself and others in my class through these assignments and would really enjoy practicing some of theses experiences again.

Church Hoppin'

Church Hoppin'...

So the church I chose to visit was Saint Timothy's Episcopal church. The feel and mood of it was hard to follow. It was an 8 a.m. service so that might have had something to do with it. I couldn't follow along with the reading and the repetitive nature of the service. The hardest part for me was how it just reminded me of growing up in the Catholic Church. I have been struggling for years to come to a place of understanding all that I was raised with and this service was much like the church I once knew.

Not a child of God

This assignment was similar to the Cross carrying. I had to remember to carry it. When I did I was reminded that I am a child of God and He delights in me. This is something that I wrestle with often and thanks to this assignment, I could turn my card over. In recovery we have a saying, " turn it over" as in turn it over to God. This was similar in the sense that I would need to turn my card over to see the truth that is, " I am one of God's living stones, being built up in Christ as a spiritual house." (1 Peter 2:5) This verse helped me to remember that Christ Lives in me PERIOD! I think sometimes that I am alone or abandoned in this world, but that is far from the truth. He lives in me and always will.

Don't forget your cross

This assignment has been a difficult one for the sheer fact that I keep forgetting my cross. From day one, I walked to Broadway Life Center and did my practicum right after making the cross. I began to walk out the room at the end of the night and had to go back for my cross. This has happened many more times since then, but after enough people have heard the story I like to think they are just helping me remember. So I walk into work, "where is your cross," someone asks. I go to my sons cross country meet, "where is your cross," another parent asks. I tried to make it easier for me by tying a rope to it so I could wear it, but that still isn't enough. A coworker even joked that I should nail  to myself so I wouldn't forget it. I have carried it most of the time though. Is that enough? Most of the time? Today is day five of seven days to complete this assignment. Will it get easier, or will I continue to forget it. Help me Lord remember my cross!

Foregiveness

Ephesians 4:32 (NLT)  Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
  I spent quite a bit amount of time praying and thinking about this assignment about forgiveness. I have to say this though; I have been working the 12 steps of recovery for 19 years now and part of the program has a step built in that is to make amends whenever I was wrong. Step 8 is Made a list of all people we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. Step 9 is Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. So as much as possible, if I am working " my program" a term used in recovery. I should be continually addressing issues that I am aware of. Of course sometimes things get pointed out that I am unaware of, but hopefully not very often. This has been an ongoing process in my life and have really noticed when I am working my program and when I am not. I draw close to Jesus when I am working on me. The one thing that I can say is that the forgiving myself has been the most challenging part of my faith and of my program. The enemy stirs up things that I did in my youth, choices that I made that I still come up. For example, a few weeks back I was hired to work at the church. When I filled out my application I needed to also fill out a criminal background check. Well the list of criminal activity and bad choices are still there. They don't ever completely go away. No matter how long it has been, I still am dealing with those choices. That makes it hard to forgive myself.

Kenosis

Kenosis- Empty oneself, made himself nothing

 I was given an assignment to find something or someway to empty myself or Kenosis. As I though of what I could do to empty myself, the one thing I hold near and dear lately is time. I don't have much of it and every minute of my waking existence is precious to me. So I set out to find somewhere that I could serve and give of my time. I asked God to direct me and I quickly thought of the Steckly construction crew that is working on our soon to be completed classrooms. I finished my workday at 12 noon today and had originally planned on going home to get some chores done before returning to class at 4 this afternoon. Rather than going home though I went up to the 4th floor of the Broadway building and asked plainly, " what can I do to help?" Lowell thought about it for a minute and soon I was putting shelves together, drilling holes and whatever else needed to be done. I was only there for 2 hours, but those hours are precious when you have a full plate. I prayerfully considered what I could do to serve others and God literally directed me to  help out in any way needed. Vacuuming, dusting, whatever needed to be done.  Small tasks are great tasks when done for The Lord. Thank you for allowing me to serve in such a small way.

Robert Garcia