PERSPECTIVES - Spring 2011 @ New Life Fellowship
NLF is pleased to offer the Perspectives class in Spring 2011 on Tuesdays, starting January 18th, 2011. NLF members who complete credit or certificate level will be eligible for a 50% scholarship rebate. For more information, visit the Perspectives website or contact Esther Na or Louis Shepard.
Class Information
West/Katy
Mondays at 6:30 – 9:30PM (Jan. 17 – May 9)
Host: Bridgepoint Bible Church
Contact: Erik Fruin
erikfruin@aggies.com
Northwest
Tuesdays at 6:30-9:30PM (Jan. 18 – May 10)
Host: New Life Fellowship
Contact: Louis Shepard
Louis.shepard@gmail.com
Central
Wednesdays at 6:30 – 9:30PM (Jan. 19 – May 11)
Host: Second Baptist Church
Contact: Stephanie Walker
Stephwalker15@yahoo.com
Cost
$250 Audit or Certificate Level
$475 Credit Level
Even though I grew up in a Christian home, I don't think I've been enlightened in such a short period of time as I have been in the first five weeks of this perspectives course. And even though I audited this class a few years ago, it seems like the truth of it is only now finally sinking in--perhaps doing the homework really does make a world of difference from just sitting in on speakers sporadically! Specifically, there are a few "enlightening" truths that I have taken away from these past several weeks. As fun as they were, I think Sunday school bible stories really did some damage to the way I would eventually come to view God. One week it was Daniel in the Lion's den, the next week was about Jesus' death on the cross, and the next about David and Goliath. See the pattern? There is none. I do remember going through a children's chronological bible when I was young, but it still didn't grasp the cohesiveness of God's greater story-and that is exactly what Perspectives has done for me. By understanding the Bible as a collection of unrelated stories, this cultivated in me a very wrong mindset that God was inconsistent and sporadic in his ways. But now I see that the Bible is one story from beginning to end about God's glory and how he is strategically and lovingly redeeming creation to himself. After realizing this truth, I sometimes wonder how I ever made sense of these things before. Sadly, I probably took the "blind faith" approach of just accepting things as they were because I was taught them as a child.
One thing I did grasp from all these bible stories as a child, however, was that God loves me and is in every and any situation I am in to rescue ME--whether out of a lion's den, out of a blazing furnace, or out of the fiery pits of hell through his son's death on the cross. I understood well this message of love and salvation. But through Perspectives, I learned that, though this message remains to be true, it is the emphasis on the "ME" part that made my view of God immature and incomplete. This class did an excellent job of pointing scripture and history to God's greater glory, as exemplified in the following verse:
Psalm 67:1-2: "May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, that your ways be known on earth, your salvation among all the nations."
I was always able to quote the first part of this verse, but I couldn't have even guessed what came next if anyone had asked me to. I know that God is powerful and mighty, I know that he is gracious and loving, but am I aware that he is indeed GOD? All my life I have been more concerned about WHAT God is and WHAT He can do, but less about WHO He is. Realizing this truth through Perspectives has done two things for me in particular. First, I am deeply convicted of my inner self-centeredness and my tendency to turn everything around (including God's word) in such a way that I am made the focus. I am like an "extra" in a movie who attends the screening only to miss the whole point of the movie because I am desperately trying to find the 2 second scene in which I appear (this example is taken from Francis Chan's Crazy Love). Secondly--and this is more of a personal realization--I can be released from any and every anxiety and burden about my purpose in life. Though I have no idea what I will end up doing in the future, let alone in the coming months, I know that, rather than my reputation or my self-esteem, it is God's glory that is at stake. As long as I am obedient in doing my part and moving forward, I know that God has a place and a plan for me--not because of who I am or what I can do, but because it will bring him the greatest glory, and, consequently, me the greatest joy.
Lastly, I have been able to better grasp how gracious God really is. Like other non-Christians, I have really questioned God's "supposed grace" and "unconditional love" at times. Long before taking Perspectives, I grappled with the question of why the world was the way it was if God was really God. I later came to the conclusion that this place is afflicted by suffering and death because of the sin that WE allowed into the world, not because God is not powerful or not loving enough to overcome it. But it wasn't until I took this class that I got more of a glimpse into how desperate and persistent and strategic God is in redeeming ALL of creation to himself. For instance, I now see how strategic it was for Him to set apart the Jewish nation for the eventual redemption of all peoples in the world. I have also come to understand that Jesus' prolonged Second Coming is not to draw out the suffering and to keep us waiting, but to allow more time for the salvation of those who have yet to encounter him here on earth.
