Letters were extremely important for early christians.  of the 27 documents that make up the New Testament, 20 of them were in letter form.  letters were not only used for basic communication, they were also used for communicating theology to disciples.  since they did not have the convenience of FaceTime or texting like we do now, letters were a great form of communication if you could not meet up in person.  it is hard sometimes to depict what they were saying always because if the people sending and receiving this letter know each other personally, they will use slang or use shared experiences to get their message across.  since we do not share the experience with them, it is hard to analyze what they are saying sometimes.

 

James- I think the biggest thing I took away from the book of James is that we have to resist temptation and we have to rejoice in trials.  I think that these two go hand in hand. a temptation is a trial.  How can we resist the urge to sin when we have so many outside voices telling us its okay.  a lot of times, society is the one who tells us its okay because of the things that are accepted in todays culture.  trials serve Gods purpose for us and we get to turn the word of God and what we believe into action.  when tempted to do something, turn to the word of God and their you will find the resistance necessary.

it is no secret that throughout history the christian faith has been subject to unfair treatment from all different types of people.  In the gospel of Luke, he portrays christians as good people who are unfairly persecuted.  Christians just try to spread positivity and love from God amongst the masses and people have a hard time accepting it.  We see it all over the world today.  people judge others for being deep in their faith and they question why we act the way we do.  People do not understand the word of God, so therefore they do not understand Christians.  This past weekend we had some major league scouts come and talk to us players on the baseball team and they said the harsh treatment of  christians in professional baseball is crazy.  the front office will go as far as to tell players not to talk to another player because he is a religious man.  I think that is very strange considering the time period we are where anything is acceptable.  Why isn’t Christianity acceptable?  I think it will not change because the world is on a steady decline with no chance of a plateau soon.

When I read this chapter, I just thought about forgiving God is.  Even when we sin, God is there to catch us and forgive us once we intentionally apologize.  I know and believe that God views as his children and loves us unconditionally.  He goes to great lengths to save us from our own temptations.  Once we sin and the repent, our Lord is right there to accept us back into the kingdom.  I really like the part of scripture that reads, “Jesus said, Haven rejoices when a sinner repents.  A son squandered his father’s wealth.  He returned and his father called a feast.”  I think that this part of scripture represents the forgiveness of Jesus Christ.  I think that God is working through the father and showing us Himself through a human.  It does not always have to a straight sign from God, it can be through a human and that is what I love about this chapter.

A Good Samaritan to me, is someone who goes out of their way for someone else to help them out.  I think that is what we all were taught when we were growing up.  we are all taught to try and go out of our way for others to help them out in their time of need.  I think that their a lot of good lessons to be learned from reading this.  I think we are all capable of being better at being a Good Samaritan.  I think we, alot of times, see that someone needs help and then expect that someone else will see it too and that they will do it for us.  I think that we should just do it, because that is the right thing to do.

one thing that really inspired me from this chapter is the part where the irate student from the university of Montana is complaining how the Bible is all nonsense and that only a weirdo would follow it.  This person, as Cosby explains, was taking the passage as it reads and not digging deeper and finding out what the passage really means.  Matthew 18:8-9 reads, “If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away;”  Jesus is not actually telling us that we need to cut off our hand or foot, he is telling us that are minds lead us astray, not our hands.  Do not listen to the temptation that the devil has put in our minds.  We must not give in to the devil.  I think a lot of times we are guilty of reading the Bible for what it says, rather than seeking the true meaning of the passage.  We have to be better at reading for comprehension, rather than just reading to read.

I chose the book of Mark because his message and story just jumped out at me for a reason I am not really sure of.  Mark’s gospel paints the picture of Jesus as always on the move.  This forward motion gets us as readers putting our attention on moving forward and looking forward to the resurrection and the cross.  The word that is used a number of times in this book is the word “immediately”.  This tells us that Jesus’ time on earth was short and that he had so much to do with his ministry during his life on earth.  What I really liked about this book is that Mark really potrays Jesus like he is on a level playing field with us.  Mark calls him a servant of God.  I like that because we, as Christians, are all servants of God and by Mark saying that it just gives me a feeling of comfort and of relief that Jesus is just like us, serving a God that we really do not know what He looks like.  Mark filled his gospel with the miracles of Jesus, drawing the power and compassion of the Son of God to us.  Some of the things that Jesus did was flat out incredible.  Jesus was hated by some people and for Him to stay on track have his priority in serving God is something that we as Christians need to think about.  With all the temptation and wrong-doing in this world, we need to be like Jesus and just focus on serving God.  I think that we do not follow that most of the time.  I know it is so hard to do that with all the temptation and peer pressure. I am definitely guilty of it and im sure that most, if not all people at messiah are guilty of it to.  We must not be alarmed or ashamed about our sins, that’s where Jesus comes in.  Mark tells us about the compassion of Jesus.  When I read that, I just think of Him forgiving our sins and how considerate He is.  No matter what we do, as long as we have accepted Jesus into our hearts, our sins are forever forgiven. Jesus is also revealed as a good teacher who gives people spiritual renewal.  I think that is important because if I ever lack in my faith and have doubt about the existence, I know I can call of Jesus and ask for him to replenish my soul with the goodness of Christ.  I love the fact that Mark describes him as the true God and the true man.  That is important to me because I really feel like Jesus is a human and that is important so that I am not intimidated by Him.  I think that some people shy away from getting deep into their faith because they are scared to know Jesus and face the horrible things that they have done in their lifetime.  I just think that this good news is that Jesus is a servant like us. We have so much in common, we just need to come to him because his arms are open and he is ready to show his compassion and teach us about his ministry and fill our souls with the goodness of Christ!

When I think of the Gospel, I think of the teachings or spreading of the news of Christ.  I think of how the four gospels had stories of Jesus and how he came to be.  Although they all had different stories, all are relatively the same thing.  I do not think that little details matter in the grand scheme of things.  The main plot in all the stories.  Another thing that the gospel represents good news.  the word gospel means good news and that is what Jesus is.  Jesus is definitely good news, without Him we would be sinners that are unforgiven in front of God.  Without Him, we could not have an eternity in Heaven.  We would not have a spot in Heaven without Jesus wiping away our sins on the cross.  That is what the gospel is to me.

The gospels are the first four books of the New Testament.  They provide four distinct descriptions of Jesus’ life and ministry.  Gospel comes from a greek word that means good news.  The authors of the gospels are called The Evangelists because they are the official announcers of the good news about Jesus.  I like these books because it tells me about Jesus.  Most of the Bible tells us about how we are supposed to be as Christians, but the Gospels tells us about Jesus’ life and how he spread his love around him.  The gospels are all about the good news and Jesus doing ministry and spreading the word of God is definitely good news. I think the gospels are some of the most important books in the Bible for sure.  I love the descriptions about Jesus life.  it makes me feel like I know him personally.

The biggest thing that I took away from the book of Malachi is that we need to reject the temptation to complain.  I think we all struggle with complaining in some aspect of our lives.  If something happens that we do not like, we complain.  Complaining really does not do anything most of the time.  Often times, it does not change the result or change the situation.  it is just someone voicing their opinion in a not so positive manner.  Malachi gives us three ways to not become complainers. first, fear the lord and always give Him priority in our lives.  Second, speak often to one another, it is important to have Christian friends to share the lord with. Finally, meditate on His name.  I think if we follows those steps, we will not complain as much.

one thing that inspired me from this book in the Bible is that God uses ordinary people in extraordinary ways.  You do not have to be a celebrity or a politician or something who everyone knows. God uses each one of us in our own way and each way is unique is some way.  I think it is very comforting to know that God does not play favorites, we are all his children and no one person is more important than the other.  I just find peace in that because this society today really pushes that people are more important than others because of their titles or accomplishments.  God does not see all of that nonsense.  God sees the good you are doing for his Kingdom, not how many millions you make.  I am very grateful to serve a God who is very fair and loving to all.  Just like Amos, a regular guy like me could be picked for a very important mission from God