Session 9

Pride is broken through brokenness.
Wounds can cure us or shackle us to borderland.
Are they wounds of a madman, or a sterile surgeons?
If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; If a foe we raising himself against me, I could hide from him. But if it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship as we walked with the throng at the house of God. Psalm 55:12-14. The enemy, we might understand, but a friend...is like a madman's gouge.
Where does your brokenness come from? Jesus WAS there.
What are the wounds of the Church?
We have wounds that are half-scabbed, hastily bandaged, that keep bleeding, waking us, hounding us with the ache while we try to go on (job, children, watching movies).
By his wounds we are healed.
Wounds can mean intimacy. We hurt, look at the cross - that is hurting. We've put it on him and he does a supernatural exchange. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him...Philippians 3:10.
Wounds are God's wooing, God's kiss - to restore and not to betray. Can we have intimacy with God without wounds, without times of hurting where we need to depend on him?
How can we receive comfort from the wounds of Jesus Christ that we have given him?
Wounds have had a role in our lives - shaping us into who we are today. They have made some slower to judge, more discerning, forgiving and trusting. Perhaps, we should wear our wounds as medals of honour, Christ does.

Confession is stripping down all the extra weight before running. In Walt Disney's 'Invincible' Vince Papale runs into the locker room at a football try out. His angry self is getting trampled on the field by all the regular players. He takes off his top gear and exchanges it for lighter gear. He doesn't give up, he does an exchange, and then venture out again. He strips down, runs again and makes it on the team.
Confession is cleaning out all the black sludge and dead leaves in the eaves' troughs so the rain water can wash them clean.
Confession is presenting our real self to God. We must be honest with our self and honest to one other person, not on Oprah to a zillion people-that's stripping.
When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. Psalm 32:3. Love can't cover the sins we cover up. 1 Peter 4:8 - Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Proverbs 28:13 - He who conceals his sin does not prosper, but whoever confess and renounces them finds mercy. Walking in truth requires admitting sin. The light exposes and heals (1 John 1:6-8).
Confession is the portal out of borderland.
Is there anything that you need to strip off, clean out and be real with? Who should you tell? With whom do you need to apologize and make amends?
No confession makes the fellowship of the Church a country club instead. A masquerade, a game of hide and seek, no life, no depth.
No confession = hinders spiritual growth, rots the bones, withers our insides, hardens us...
'If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;' Psalm 66:18
What have you noticed that hidden (un-confessed) sin does to you?
Some paint fruit on hoping no one will notice there are no roots. Some plant seeds of sin or boast or confess rather about what others are doing or saying, then what they are personally responsible for. Own your stuff, share, don't play the blame game. That is not how the bride of Christ is supposed to live.

Session 8

Holy habits feel awkward. When someone lies or starts smoking, it usually doesn't feel awkward. Why is it then that Holy habits feel more awkward than sinful actions? We are born human and so to form holy habits, we must die to our selfish desires and long after Christ-likeness.
Imagine what would happen to our lives if we added a spiritual habit to daily life. We wake up, brush our teeth, shower, get dressed... What if we through in some worship, prayer and Bible reading. Imagine what our lives would be like if our spiritual routines fit right along, were our daily routines. We could fit worship in the shower, prayer when we get dressed and while brushing our teeth, read or even listen to a chapter of the Bible, perhaps even when we are slowly eating breakfast.
Jesus had a routine of being with the Father. He stayed connect and that is why he could heal a boy and his disciples could not. Because he always prayed, he could stand and deliver.
Grace and earning are opposites. Grace and effort are allies. Make an effort to keep peace, keep unity, to be holy, to be found spotless, to enter rest. Receiving grace has been used as an excuse to laziness. Effort has gone over the edge and become 'workaholic'ish. Both are needed for a balance, both are needed to cancel out laziness and business.
Why should we do anything? LOVE. I challenge you to look at some things in your life and see if the bottom motivator is love. It should be. If it isn't, pray and see if you should continue in it.
God spoke to me a while ago, where are you? right when I was asking Him where he was. He doesn't need to be evoked. I do. God came to me. No, I came to be with God. Psalm 139, he knows my thoughts and he is everywhere.
Just before Christmas, I entered winter... in a spiritual sense. I am still there and I know God is doing a deep work and spring will come. I desperately want him near. I read, pray and worship, but still there is an unbreakable wall between heaven and earth. I've practiced, rehearsed, repeated and reworked my knowledge. He is here and real and at work...even though I don't feel it.
If we walk with continual expectancy, will each moment brim with the possibility of encounter and discovery?
Do it all for God. Work, school, leisure... For love for God. There is the sacred and the profane. The profane is the sacred abused, unkept, trampled on, trivialized... What do we need to do to live sacred holy lives? Can we not live, use, say and do only the sacred? Out of love, not duty?

Session 7

Jesus vs Pharisees
heart vs external
lust (root of) vs adultery
involvement vs avoidance
rescue sinners vs avoid sinning
What can I do to have effective witness? vs How will this affect me witness?

Evil isn't safe in the presence of God
Sin is not a personal flaw like acne or crooked teeth.

It's bad when people instinctively define Christians by what they are not or what they avoid: smoking, drinking, sex until marriage, bad language. It's like drawing a background but not the portrait. I do these things because of a response to the love He has shown me. I want to live for Him.

Is God just another ball that we juggle? Trying to make everything go smoothly.

Let the cleanness inside spill out, washing filth and evil and sickness on the outside.

A glimpse of leaving borderland behind...watch The Secret Garden. This boy is kept in his room. His food is brought to him, his curtains closed, his wheelchair by his bed. His cousin comes to town and helps him OUT. She rips off the curtains and lets the light in. She opens the window for fresh air. He is freaking out. She gets him out of bed, and oh wow, outside of the house. He goes to the 'secret' garden and ends up walking, skipping, dancing, laughing. He hates the process while going through it but the end result is beautiful. Don't be too safe - God isn't.