Pocket Share Jesus

These are my notes from the Focus on the Family DVD series, “The Truth Project” during my Tuesday morning men’s group. We are starting this 12 part series by Dr. Del Tackett. Today we watched and discussed the first half of lesson one.
http://www.thetruthproject.org/

Del’s blog is:
http://deltackett.com/

We are taking a tour of worldviews in this multiple-week program of study

What is the truth? Who is God? Who is man? These are questions we are going to tackle

I’m not interested in completion (of this course) I am interested in transformation (of you)

1st question: Why did Jesus come into the world?
– to save us? to set captives free? To testify to the Truth!
– why did the God of the universe do this?

John 18:37 NLT
“Pilate said, “So you are a king?” Jesus responded, “You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.””

In the book of John, Jesus says “truly, truly” 25 times

John 17:17 “Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.”

John 4:24
“For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.””

John 8:32
“And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

John 14:16-17
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.”

John 16:13
“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.”

1 Tim 2:3-4
“This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.”

Eph 6:14
“Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.”

OT references to truth – laments the loss of truth

How do we respond to the truth? – suppress, distort, reject

2 Tim 4:3-4
“For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths.”

John 18:37
“Pilate said, “So you are a king?” Jesus responded, “You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.””

This implies that “there are sides” when it comes to truth

1 John 4:6
This is the cosmic battle between Satan and God (lies versus the truth)
“But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception.”

2 Thess 2: 9-13 The coming of the lie (Satan) to compete with the truth
“This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies. Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth. As for us, we can’t help but thank God for you, dear brothers and sisters loved by the Lord. We are always thankful that God chose you to be among the first to experience salvation—a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and through your belief in the truth.”

John 8:34-47
” 34 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. 35 A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free. 37 Yes, I realize that you are descendants of Abraham. And yet some of you are trying to kill me because there’s no room in your hearts for my message. 38 I am telling you what I saw when I was with my Father. But you are following the advice of your father.”

39 “Our father is Abraham!” they declared.

“No,” Jesus replied, “for if you were really the children of Abraham, you would follow his example.[a] 40 Instead, you are trying to kill me because I told you the truth, which I heard from God. Abraham never did such a thing. 41 No, you are imitating your real father.”

They replied, “We aren’t illegitimate children! God himself is our true Father.”

42 Jesus told them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I have come to you from God. I am not here on my own, but he sent me. 43 Why can’t you understand what I am saying? It’s because you can’t even hear me! 44 For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 So when I tell the truth, you just naturally don’t believe me! 46 Which of you can truthfully accuse me of sin? And since I am telling you the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 Anyone who belongs to God listens gladly to the words of God. But you don’t listen because you don’t belong to God.””

Sin deceives us
– every sin which besets us can be traced back to a belief in a lie

1 John 3:10
“So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.”

2 Tim 2:24-26 Captives
“A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people. Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth. Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants.”

Col 4:5-6 dealing with outsiders
“Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.” Antithesis – unity vs division
– diversity vs unification
– roles vs jealousy
– responsibility vs blame
– authority vs rebellion
– delegation vs tyranny
– one more…

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These are my notes from the presentation “Helping Children Deal with Anger” by Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller at the 2011 Children’s Pastors Conference in San Diego, California on March 16, 2011. (I listened to an audio recording of this session today with my wife, who attended the conference in person.) Among others their websites include:

http://www.effectiveparenting.org/

http://www.biblicalparenting.org/

The session description was: “Many parents get sucked into the anger episodes of their kids. In this practical breakout you will not only learn ways to help children deal with their anger, but you will help parents know how to help their kids as well. Both frustration anger and hurt anger are addressed.”

Anger is not a sin

“Anger is good for identifying problems, not for solving them”

Our goal is to realize John 1:19 – be slow to anger
“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry”
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James%201:19&version=NIV

This size of the stop sign needed is based on the size of the emotion

We are all emotionally connected
– angry people send out invitations to other people to join them in their anger

Anger is not the way to solve things – anger can work to get people to do things, but it carries with it a toll or tax

James 1:20
“…because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.”
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+1%3A20&version=NIV

Use self control strategies to release the emotion of anger properly
Proverbs 29:11
“Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end.”
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs%2029:11&version=NIV

Steps to deal with anger:
1- identify early warning signs (triggers)
2- stop signs: settle down and pull back
3- Choose a different response (people get angry when they don’t have a plan)

Options to acting out in anger
1- talk about it
2- get some help (being able to ask for help is a very adult skill)
3- slow down and persevere (may require adjusting some expectations first)

Frustration can be a great teacher, but you need to help students get a plan together Frustration anger is different than hurt anger
– pain and stress happen in our lives, so we need to equip children to deal with hurt in life
– sometimes these are real hurts, other times perceived hurts

Anger is a response to hurt or frustration that leads to bitterness
– can lead to a rut, lifestyle and routine
– developing lifestyle choices is key

It’s not enough to be right, it is also important to be wise

When we are hurt we need to process it in our lives

Sorrow is a better response to hurt than anger
– we all need to know how to be comforted (that does not mean just eating more or playing more video games)

2 Corith 1:3-5
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.”
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+1%3A3-5&version=NIV

Anger hardens the heart

Sorrow/sadness response keeps our hearts soft

“There is another choice other than anger, it is sorrow.”

Hurting people can hurt other people: That is not an acceptable response

Listening without even saying anything can be important

You earn the right to speak by listening, especially from a child who has been hurt

Modeling a sorrow response instead of an anger response is very important too

An anger problem is a heart problem
– you can’t just focus on behavior modification

This is one part of a four part/hour workshop
– living within boundaries
– accepting no for an answer
– more…

We have 3 divisions: home, church and online

Biblical Parenting University online
http://www.biblicalparentinguniversity.com/

Book: Hero Training Camp
– all children have a conscience, focus is on internal locus of control (being internally motivated)

Can use our program as a family VBS

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