Some of what I'm learning...

This week in class we discussed The Father Heart of God. Our teacher, Jack, flew in from North Carolina and stayed the week with us. He was a great speaker and very passionate about the topic. His main emphasis was for us to see God as our Father, and not a rule maker/punisher/stranger/or distant relative, as many of us see him. The first day we did an exercise where Jack gave us a scenario: If, on a typical evening God himself were to pull up to our house in a car, get out and walk to our door, how would we respond? It’s kind of hard to think of what our reaction might be, but it’s worth taking the time to do it.

After we wrote down our responses, Jack explained to us that this response portrays our image of God. Some of us shared and said if he came to see us, we would panic, and hide. Some said they would invite him in and bring him coffee, sit down and talk. And a couple said they would throw the door open and embrace him, feeling so thankful that he came. It’s interesting to note how some of us see Him as a punisher (response 1), as a stranger (response 2), and Dad (response 3). Jack pointed out that our image of God determines how we think about Him, how we pray, how we read the bible, and how we treat others. So very true… if you have the time, consider how you would respond, honestly, if this situation were to happen today. It’s pretty interesting to think about. Anyways, here are a couple pictures from the day Jack left- we all formed a line to give him a hug, since he was such an impacting speaker and a great example of a Father. (Oh, and one night this week he took all of us, DTS leaders and students- so like 24 people- out to a movie and also treated everyone to drinks and popcorn. He told us he wanted to do something a Father would do, to put into action the words he was speaking. How cool is that!)