Journal entry no. 4
So far, this week has been great!
I love the subject we are studying: Biblical Worldview.
I was raised with much emphasis on this area, which must be why I enjoy it so much.
One of our speakers this week is a local pastor in Toowoomba, Chris Windus.
If you've ever heard Del Tackett (of the Truth Project) speak, then you get an idea of Chris's teaching style.
I love it.
He makes point after mind-blowing point, and every now and again stops to take a breath.
Romans 12:2-
Do not be conformed any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is– his good, pleasing, and perfect will.
So no matter where you are or what you are doing, you're worshiping something.
Whether it's God, self, food, material things, or whatever else, whatever you do is a form of worship.
This (along with plenty of other reasons, of course) is why Romans 12:2 is a big deal.
What does it mean to be conformed?
Imagine wet sand.
I for one really love to make sand castles. So if I have wet sand, I'm going for it.
So how do I make my castle? I pile up the sand and then pack it together real tight, until it starts to take on a new form.
When I do this, the sand doesn't stop being sand, does it? No.
It simply takes on a new shape. Why? Because I put pressure on it in all sorts of different ways and now its the first tower of my castle.
Bottom line: to be conformed is to take on a different form based on external pressure experienced.
This is what happens to our worldview when the world gets to it.
But what does it mean to be transformed?
How is that different than conformation?
Another way to think of 'transformation' is 'metamorphosis'.
You know, like the whole caterpillar turned butterfly deal, it takes place on the inside of the cocoon.
In the same way, we are to be transformed by the renewing of our hearts and minds, and this is something that's got to happen inwardly.
Make sense? Our worldview is either formed either by outward pressures or by an inward renewal.
Inward renewal of the mind also implies a change in the way you think. And the change of the way that you think will change the way that you live.
So we started to think about what a biblical worldview looks like.
I mean, really. Where exactly are we coming from? In order to determine this, we think back to the character and nature of God.
Who is God? What does he look like?
Can we see him here on earth? No.
Why not? Because He was not created. He is Creator. He is not only outside of time, but creation, as well.
This is really cool because come world problems, while our 'created stuff' is limited, the Creator is not.
He has endless resources. Endless solutions.
That's pretty cool :)
This is the root of my belief that absolutely any situation can be turned around at any time, if God chooses to do so.
Of course, along with that belief (renewing of the mind) there also needs to be faith
(Renewal of the heart).
Note: in saying that God is outside of creation, I'm not disregarding Christ's coming to earth in any way, it's not like God is stuck outside of creation. He's fully here and everywhere else. Isn't that awesome??
You know what else (in particular) is great about God?
He has this huge desire to heal the nations. As in, ALL of the nations.
And he has had this desire since the very moment when they got screwed up by Adam and Eve.
On Tuesday, we looked at the Ten Commandments.
I can't believe this was such a big revelation to me, but as Chris went through the list, he made the point that God didn't put these commandments in place because he was bored and felt like making us miserable.
Not because He's a big, angry God who's just waiting for us to screw up so he can strike us with lightning.
He made them totally based on His love for us.
This DTS has been packed full of "I can't believe I really thought that" moments.
This is one of them.
Why no other gods? Because there is no other God. Searching for or worshiping a different one is just pointless. God knows that, and doesn't want anyone to miss out on the greatness of knowing Him.
Why no idols? Because that's just trying to make an image for God. We can't handle to know what God looks like. God knows that, so he said not to bother with the idol thing.
Why not misuse God's name? You'll misrepresent Him to yourself as well as others.
And so on with the rest of the commandments.
God made His law for our hearts' sake,
Which is cool because I think In order to have part in the healing of the nations, we must first have healing in our hearts.
Chris had so many amazing things to say,
I wish that I could go into every detail of what we've learned, but I just can't. That would be a super long post and you'd fall asleep reading it.
I've got to wrap it up now.. All I can say is that this week has been very exciting and I've learned so much! In fact, so much that I need more time to process it.
Just this past week have I begun to really grasp some of the things from the first few weeks of lectures!
Please pray that things continue to sink in from here on out, as I take in more and more.
Chelsea :D
