Assay

With God and Dave, this might work.

test for decompression

this is a test. jesus loves len...and david.

Hey Jude: your most holy faith

hey gang - thanks for sticking it out until the end of this cohort

for the final week, i'd just like to get your two cents' worth on the following pieces:

#1 what were your impressions of the angels/divine messengers theme as it wove through two weeks of the series?

#2 tell me about the series as a whole. was it useful for you? important?

#3 there are, of course, many other books in the bible that are overlooked [as jude often is]. having spent 4 weeks in such a book, is it worth-our-while to do another series on such a book sometime in the future?

ok - thanks everyone!

hey jude: clouds without water

hey gang - here are a few questions for you to roll over as jvo leads us through this section of the book of jude

#1 what nuances from the text do you think jvo is uniquely able to bring out by virtue of his personality [i.e. what's his "take" on the book]? again, how does this flavor/perspective add to the previous weeks' teaching and what do you get from combining the two?

#2 tell me about the metaphors in these verses...was there one that you personally resonated with? is there one you find personally convicting? on you've been exposed to that's been hurtful to you?

#3 with only one week left in the series [after this one], where do you feel like we need to place our emphasis? i.e. how should the series wrap up in order to really be meaningful/useful to your own christian experience?

ok - thanks everyone for all your efforts here!

- david

hey jude: the archangel and el diablo

ok - here are our topics for this week...

#1 what impacted you most about this odd piece of scripture? had you heard it before? did it make sense when we read it in fusion?

#2 what did you learn from this week's experience? did god speak to you through the message in some way about your life?

#3 can you give me some personal feedback here? how clear was i about the purpose of this passage of scripture? did it all tie in together? or, did you feel like i just blasted out a bunch of facts with no bearing at all to real life?

#4 as always, if there's anything else you'd like to add that i haven't made space for, please feel free to post those comments here.


ok - thanks everybody!

hey jude: beware the creeps!

hey gang - thanks for sticking it out with me online

i thought we'd take a bit of a different track this week and maybe begin by interpreting some of the series artwork [which appears on the screens and in the draft]

#1 what images stick out at you through the artwork? are there recognizeable shapes/pictures of peoples/things? what impressions do you get from the artpieces overall?

#2 how do you feel like the artwork contributes to the themes of the book of jude? is it possible we are being taught something via that artwork? knowing that i put it together, what do you think i was trying to communicate through these images?

#3 let's talk about false teachers - what kinds of false teachers have you personally been exposed to? have there been painful encounters of this sort in the past for you? have you ever felt like maybe you were momentarily guilty of being a false teacher? what did you do to recover from that?

#4 in addition to the kinds of heresy we talked about on the weekend, what heresies do you think are common in our world today? do you think westwinds is particularly susceptible to these kinds of teaching? what could we do to be better protected against un-truth in our church?

ok - thanks everyone - we'll talk to you soon!

covenant: a standalone

hey gang - just a few short reflection questions this week as we take a breather from hosea, before diving straight into JUDE.

#1 why are covenants important? is the statement we signed this weekend a "real" covenant? or, just some kind of symbol? is there a difference? does god view our rituals with as much gravity as our 'personal' prayers?

#2 why do you think we chose to "team teach" this weekend?

#3 please give us some feedback on the creed/covenant itself. did it resonate with you? did you find meaning in the phraseology? was there something became clearer to you while signing/reading it?

thanks, everybody - please remember to remain in prayer for westwinds and for us as leaders!

- david

fed on lies about love: teaching you a lesson again, and again, and again

hey gang - this week jvo is taking the reins while i visit another church in lansing [to steal ideas and get a little fresh perspective].

so - please bear in mind that some of our conversation will be a little different this week as we orient our comments towards team teaching, different voice, etc...

so..

#1 what value is there in having two speakers present the same story from two different perspectives? what does jvo bring to the text that is unique? in what ways is his reading different from mine? how do you feel the two balance each other out? if you only got one perspective, what would you be missing?

#2 now that the parable of steve and angela is complete [you did get that it was fictional, right?] what have you learned about their story? how has god used their story to teach you about your life? in what ways do steve and angela differ from hosea and gomer? what makes this parable imperfect? what makes it uncomfortable?

#3 jvo used a pretty graphic illustration - how did it hit you? do you think you'll remember his point with the illustration of the manequin? did it overshadow the rest of what he was saying, or reinforce it?

#4 as always, i'm very interested in any other comments you'd like to make about this week's teaching and/or the series as a whole. feel free to let your creative and/or critical mind speak freely.

thanks again!