Does God expect blind faith? Are faith and reason opposed to each other?

We discussed some fascinating quotes from this Stoic Roman Emperor who sought to live a virtuous life. Much of his advice to himself can be helpfully applied to us in our life lived with and for Jesus.

Hope for the broken based on Jesus' words in Matthew 5.

• We're made in the image of our Creator, who is creative (Gen 1) and who designed us to be creative (Gen 2).

• Here's the thesis: To be creative we must allow ourselves the luxury and the discomfort of boredom.

• The algorythms disrupt this God-given impulse, turning us into consumers.

Tonight we dug deeper into the theme of how we are meant to let go and let God, and what we are meant to hold onto instead of what we naturally do.

This was a Wednesday Whiteboard chat.

Some questions and answers after one of my annual week of counseling short term missions students.

Carl Chupp taught Wednesday Whiteboard. :)

We're in a battle, but the true enemy is never a human.

1. Hurt enough - realize need for change
2. Learn enough - realize change is possible
3. Receive enough - able to change

"I don't know," can be scary, but if we want to take the posture of a learner, it's essential.

This Wednesday Whiteboard session was about how we are a part of a much larger story of God's covenant with family lineage, not just individuals.

We ended by making some declarations and doing some good spiritual work breaking agreements and making agreements with gospel truths.

Joseph of Arimathea laid him in his tomb.

"Be merciful to those who doubt." Jude 1:22

Based on a variety of scriptures, what can we postulate about the afterlife?

Johnathan Quatela's ministry is to serve those who serve the state of Delaware through governmental leadership.

He likes to say, "Government is God's idea. Politics is what happens when people insert their own agendas into it."

This is a reflection on the nature of faith. It tries to work out some implications of what James says in chapter 2 of his letter when he tells us, "Oh you say you believe in one God? Well guess what? The demons believe, but they tremble."

Real faith isn't about what we claim to agree with, but what we stake our lives on. This truth cuts two ways:

1. If we say we believe, maybe we're wrong.

2. If we say we don't believe, maybe we're wrong.

Jay talked about the process God allows us to take to make mistakes, learn, and find our way, with God involved and orchestrating things in a way we couldn't anticipate. God does this because he knows us, knows what we need, and loves us deeply.

This gospel chat is from Ephesians chapter 1.

Mark 6:46 “He went up on the mountain to pray.”

Where are your meeting places? What role does beauty play in your prayers? What are your habits?

The Wednesday evening group helped me process a text from a friend.

Then we talked about the question, "What is holiness?"