FaustAaron.Session1.Journal
Where my road started to where I am now is full of dark valleys and steep hills. The Lord of grace and mercy has walked with me every step of the way and carried me for miles. He has brought men into my life who have strengthened me and brought His word to me like a two edged sword of truth to open my heart. In this season of my life, God has called me from the comfort, safety and predictability of my normal life and step out into the uncharted territories.
He has been teaching me to plow up the areas of hard soil in my life to prepare for the blessing of rain. I had started to pray, “Lord, where do I begin because I do not understand what this looks like.” Then God led me into His word through Pastor Jon Chasteen of Victory Church. His sermons
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It was the truth and revelation I needed to start this new journey in my life.
The hardened soil of my life can be broken down into three areas: spiritual life, family and community. I have not had the greatest spiritual relationship with God over the last couple of years. I gave up and let my circumstances harden my heart. I read my bible, prayed and went to church just because that is what a good Christian does. I was there for my family but I was not leading them spiritually, especially my wife. I faked growth and said all the right things to get through conversations/situations in my community.Since starting my journey and hearing the Word of
God spoken through those sermons, it has awakened new spiritual grow in all areas of my life.I feel more connected to God, my family and my community. God is revealing sin, habits, thoughts
that are holding me back from being all that he created me to be. There is fruit in my life that is evident to not just me but to those around me.
The uncharted territory God has called me step out in faith is school. I have done school online before and it did not go well.It got hard and my mind was not in the right mindset and
My life is continually unfolding into a more global understanding of faith, religion and culture where I once thought all was wrong and evil if not strictly Roman Catholic. One of the ways I cultivate my outlook is to analyze the different ways people honor the dead.
As I reflect on spiritual disciplines it is easy for me to look at them and weed out the ones that I do not think apply to me and the ones that I am drawn towards. But as I press into God and ask him what he sees fit and what I need more of, the picture begins to looks different than what I thought I saw before. Since I am so obviously human, I would rather see my life through a different more accurate lens than one that is tainted and imperfect like those of my human eyes. When I look at my life spiritually it is easy for me to see the spiritual disciplines that just come naturally to me such as worship and service. Since I know that those are areas of my faith that I thrive in, I tend to gravitate towards those to try and satisfy my spiritual life but I leave other parts to suffer. I want to gain better understanding of my faith and ultimately cultivate a deeper relationship with the Father.
School has been in our lives for the longest time and it has always been a positive experience. It sets students on a path to achieve their education goal and stepping stones to a career! Now with all the advancements in life, students have the opportunity to do online classes. This is useful if the pupil is not able to attend school or their school does not offer some classes that they would like to take. Experiencing both of these ways of schooling, I have an understanding of the differences between the two. The major differences between online school and traditional school are the flexibility opportunities, the communication with the teachers, and the time management/discipline from the learner.
I first learned to be a Christian from my parents. They took me to Sunday School and “preaching” on Sunday mornings when I was young. They made sure I was involved in the youth group and children’s and youth choirs while growing up. They taught me to say a blessing before every meal, and they laugh when I still occasionally break into our traditional “God is great, God is good . . .” version of grace I learned as a child. My parents were also the ones who taught me to ask for God’s help when I am in need of something or worried about an issue as well as to give God praise for all of the blessings in my life. My grandparents also helped further my Christian education. My Grandmother Hall made an impact on my understanding of church because she was very opinionated about what her preacher should and should not be preaching about from the pulpit. Her opinions caused me to think about what I believed in and why I believed that way. My family was very important to my upbringing in the church.
Do you think counseling will help the homosexual client? I surmise that spiritual counseling will help the homosexual client in a vast amount of ways. Spiritual counseling help the client cope with and resolve emotional concerns. The counselor can provide a place of tranquility, where the client can converse about all the problems that has imprisoned the client's mental stability. My suggestion would be to help the homosexual client cope with being homosexual and build upon their mental fortitude and mental foundation.
Introduction The purpose of this paper is to Our souls are fed by various practices - practiced by Jesus Himself, the apostles, leaders and historians of the Early Church - and ordinary believers throughout the ages! In addition, leaders throughout the ages have started movements, in which God's Spirit moved, bringing renewal to the Church and her people. The Contemplative Tradition with its emphasis on prayer and the Holiness Movement with its focus upon striving against sin have brought renewal to the human soul.disciplines. Contemplative and Holiness lead to the renewal and health of the soul.
Q. Describe when and how you became a Christian. A. Although I grew up as a Christian from the beginning of my life, I might be able to confess that I became a true believer through my father absence. His last few months made me see that God gave solid faith to my father, and God is working because my father never gave up his faith even while losing his mind due to a maintenance drug to reduce pains. However, after his death, I could not overcome the state feeling emptiness not because my father is absent but because man’s life in this world seemed to be meaningless before death. Through my father, I could believe that there is God doubtlessly, but I could not find the purpose of creation and meaning of this life.
My relationship with Jesus is still growing, I am always trying to get closer to him, in the choices that I make, through prayer, and reading the word. Although I am very far from perfection the desire of my heart is to know him and become like him. I cannot pinpoint an exact moment when he became real to me. My journey to Christ has been gradual. Sadly, I am not sure of exact dates and times.
When I first started this Spiritual Formation class I realized I had little faith in God. If someone would speak their beliefs, I would sometimes doubt my own beliefs. This doubt is where the spiritual formation plan comes in handy. I feel like the spiritual formation plan is my positive mantra that I can read every day. It like me customizing my own pair of shoes. My plan at first was to read the scripture. I feel like reading the scriptures was a way I could get the answers to my life. The second step was I was going to pray every day. I believe prayer is a time where I could be vulnerable with God because I know he will always look out for me in life. I feel like there are mean people in this world and sometimes people will see vulnerability as a weakness. The good thing about prayer is I can tell God my deepest fear about life or express my concerns. The next thing, I was going to do was mediate. I feel like I have undervalued mediating. Since I have anxieties, I feel like meditating will give me peace in my life. I am getting in touch with my inner self. The next step is fasting, I feel like when a person is fasting he or she can ask questions. I recalled when Mohandas Gandhi
As my spiritual journey progresses, I daily learn more about my religion. I was baptized in a Coptic Orthodox Church where my belief lays, still eighteen years later. Most of my Sunday’s schedule is going to church, taking communion, and then serving the 1st and 2nd graders, or attending fellowship. When I am in sunday school or fellowship, I hear lectures about what god expects of us, stories from the bible as an example to go by. I attended choir for five years in my church, whether it is during christmas time, St. Mary’s feast, Easter, or the apostles feast.
As I sit and reflect over my life, I ask myself where have I come from, where might I currently be, and what does the future hold for me according to my faith formation. This was a time for me to weigh the progress of my formation that happened over the years and to see the influential players who made it possible. Within this essay I will use two of James Fowler’s stages of faith to evaluate my own life and be able to see that through these stages I can be able to help develop others faith as well. It is through these stages that have shaped my life into becoming the faithful person that I am today.
(Jeremiah 17:14) in Jesus name Amen.” The last two trimesters of my pregnancy was much better than the first trimester and I was able to regain my strength. I went into labor around 11:00pm on January 19, 1980; I remember after several hours of labor pain the doctors and nurses became concerned because of the heart rate of the baby. They rushed in the room and told me and my husband that the baby was in distress due to the cord being around her neck and that an emergency C-Section is necessary because the baby was in a breech position. My baby girl was born on a Sunday afternoon January 20, 1980 during the Super Bowl weighing 8 pounds 7 ounces and 22 inches long.
Spiritual formation is one subject that I like to discuss in that it really helps one reflect on their own spiritual journey and where they are in that journey. The devil wants to steal, kill, and destroy any step forward towards God. He is not after anything tangible that we possess, rather, he is only after our faith in God and belief in Jesus. Knowing this is part of our spiritual journey as fighting against the enemy requires spiritual warfare in which the only one that can help is Jesus. A transformation in our character to be like Jesus is essential to our spiritual growth. This cannot be done without being intentional with our time, finances, and disciplines.
According to Hutchison (2015), “religion is symbolic patterns that consists of values, beliefs, behaviors and experiences” (p. 184). I personal conceptualize spirituality as a vital role in my life that helps me during a time of sickness, forgiveness, and needed guidance. Spirituality helps guide me throughout life during the difficult times I have encountered. Spirituality impacts my life in positive ways that influence and regulate my behavior and health. Health is very important to me; I believe the spirit can heal a person from their sickness. It seems that the spirit heals me every time I pray to be healed from sickness. The spirit gives me strength at a time of weakness. When I feel at my lowest point in life I call on the spirit to pick
Spirituality can have many different definitions, depending on who is asked. It can be something as simple as looking for a higher meaning to life, or something so complex that one can base their beliefs, religion and overall life around it. There are several different ways to express one's spirituality; rituals, songs, dances, stories, and writings are all common methods of expression.