We started today's Quiet Time by watching one of Rob Bell's Nooma Videos. I'd heard a lot about these, but never actually seen one myself. They are about ten minutes long, and cover an aspect of Christianity in an interesting way. The video we watched today focussed on a story about a father who held his baby son close to him during a heavy rain storm. This was a pretty powerful story, which reminded us about how storms can come in all our lives, but God just wants to hold us close, and whisper to you: "I love you, I'm close to you, we're going to get through this together". We then were asked to think about people back home who we thought would do anything for us, and then think about if we thought God would do the same for us. Do you have someone like that - who would do anything for you?
He has told you, O man, what is good;and what does the Lord require of youbut to do justice, and to love kindness,and to walk humbly with your God?
We then had our weekly prayer session for other people (intersession, as I've previously mentioned). Today we focussed on the situation in India, and the persecution of the Christians there. It is great to know that the prayers said by a few people in England on a YWAM DTS course can have an impact in another country, with people we have never met.
After a break we moved on to our second day of hearing about the Father Heart of God. We had to think about what we could know about God, if we knew nothing to start off with. The Bible has a lot to say about God: He wants to bring life to us, He wants to bring fun, joy and comfort. He is persistent, trustworthy and creative. He also reveals Himself as Father. I guess if you've never had a good father figure in your life, you might have a hard time relating to God as Father. I count myself as blessed in that I have more than one fantastic father figures, including my actual Dad, who is great. The teaching overall was really good. Although they are called "Lectures", it isn't like being at university. We all get a say in what happens, if we want, and have many opportunities to share our experiences and knowledge with the class.
We had further teaching on the Father Heart of God, focussing on God's Story (as we know it so far). I was wondering during this about how much the rest of the world knows about the historical figures in the Bible - Abraham, Joseph, Moses etc. I was pleased later in the day when I randomly stumbled on a page in the book that talked exactly about this subject. I don't think it was a coincidence that I just happened on that page on the day I was thinking about this subject.
We also looked at God through the story of "The Prodigal Son", which can be found in Luke 15:11-31. There is so much here that talks about God's character. The father was willing to humble himself and welcome his estranged son back into his family. He was willing to let the son go in the first place, and not force him into anything he didn't want to do. There is a lot more that could be said on this passage. It is worth investigating for yourself.
After lunch we took part in our usual "Community Care" duties. This time I washed the sinks while the two girl cleaned the toilets and floors. I always seem to take a lot longer no matter which cleaning task I'm doing. I guess they are just more efficient than me! We managed to get all the toilets and showers cleaned in about an hour though, which was good going. After that, I tidied the bedroom I'm in a bit, preparing for the meeting we had in the evening.
I read some more of the book "Blue like Jazz". It really challenges me when it comes to my views on what a Christian "should" look like, and how they should talk about their spirituality/walk with God. The author sometimes seems to my knee-jerking view to not even be a Christian, which is my error, and something I have to work out with God. He certainly is a Christian, as he professes in the book. It is scary reading sometimes. I just don't know what he's going to say next. He's had so many interesting experiences and friends. He's like the Jessica Fletcher of Christian Spirituality.
In the evening, we had a meeting in my bedroom for all the guys on the course. These will continue weekly during the course, and be a time when we can share our thoughts/struggles with life, and pray for each other, as well as being a time just to process what we have learnt, and grow closer together, as men. I really enjoyed this first session. I was quite excited, as it has been a couple of months since I've been in a similar group. I was in a group in my church in Portsmouth (we called them "Cell groups"), and I miss it. To have a group of people around you who you can trust, and share your thoughts and struggles with is a very useful and recommended thing. In tonight's session, we had to write a few things about ourselves for the visiting speakers to get to know us, and we talked about how our days have been, as well as praying for each other.
"Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved."
